Yesterday I was thinking about Ava and the fact that one day she is going to grow up and get her period. With this period she is going to have to go see the gynecologist. All men, I’m warning you, you can stop reading here if you are embarrassed about girly bits but I’d like to take a moment to remind you that we have girly bits and every now and they are going to be topics of conversation. If you don’t like it, too bad.
Anyway, it got me thinking about my first trip to the girly bit doctor. I was about 13 or so and I wake up in the morning in extreme pain. Like I can’t even walk, can barely see straight pain. I start screaming and my mom comes running in my room and I tell her there’s this horrible cramping going on. And for those of you that are wondering, it wasn’t because of a monthly visitor. So she rushes me to the ER. I feel like I should tell you guys here that my dad was in the Air Force (go Dad!) and we went to a military hospital, which is younger-ish doctors from what I remember. So anyway, they check me for appendicitis, blah, blah, blah. And then they determine I need my girly bits checked. I have no idea what this means. So the nurse comes in and my mom is there and she asks me if I want her to stay with me. I say no because here is my chance to prove I’m an adult, right???? So mom leaves.
The nurse hands me the paper gown drape thingy and tells me to undress from the waist down. I’m thinking, “No problem!” I get undressed, hop up on the examining table and wait for the doctor. He (YES HE) walks in and sits on his little stool, tells me to put my feet in the stirrups and scoot my behind down to the edge of the table. I’m following instructions well so far. Except that my knees are locked together like Fort Knox. So he lifts up the paper thingy to start doing his exam and pauses. Then he excuses himself from the room and says he’s going to go get my mom.
In my 13-year-old mind, I’m thinking, “Oh shit! I’m dying! That’s why he left to go get my mom. I’m dying!!!!” So my mom comes back in the room, without the doctor. I’m scared to death and she says to me, “Honey, you have to take off your underwear.” HUH??? I HAVE TO DO WHAT???????? But…but…but he’s a man and those are MY girly bits and I don’t want him to see them!!!!!!!!!!
Don’t ask me what I was thinking leaving my underwear on. I mean, really, did I think he had x-ray vision? Come to think of it, that would be awesome if doctors did. It would make that girly bit visit so much easier to schedule.
Lights. Camera. Life. 
i was much older, unfortunately, when i visited a gyno for the first time. i was uncomfortable going to a guy but it was per my mom's suggestion and he was the same guy who saved her life when my sister was born and so i figured how bad could it be. i'm not saying that women doctor's are always more sensitive (cause they're not) but there's something about going to a male gynecologist that doesn't seem right (to me). the whole experience for me was negative and it was a really long time before i went back to another one.